It’s a Question of Faith: Charcoal vs. BBQ briquettes

It’s a Question of Faith: Charcoal vs. BBQ briquettes

06/08/15

It’s a Question of Faith: Charcoal vs. BBQ briquettes
Cologne, 6 August, 2015: Whether the decision goes to charcoal or barbecue briquettes depends on many factors, and often simply on personal preferences and beliefs. Charcoal and barbecue briquettes differ in particular in material properties, ignition behaviour, burning time and heat. Premium BBQ Briquettes by Die Kohle-Manufaktur set new standards.

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While charcoal is made of carbonized wood, briquettes are made of charcoal dust and small pieces of charcoal or alternatively from activated carbon. These are pressed under high pressure with organic starch as a binder. The fuel in Premium BBQ Briquettes by Die Kohle-Manufaktur is pure carbon of the highest quality, which is also used as activated carbon. Unlike charcoal, this activated carbon does not contain carbon or hydrocarbon compounds, which are harmful both to health and in their impact on the environment in combustion. Our Premium BBQ Briquettes consist of more than 80 percent carbon, which is mixed with food starch as a binder. Conventional briquettes have a much longer burning time of about three hours due to their higher density, compared with charcoal at just one hour. Die Kohle-Manufaktur’s Premium BBQ Briquettes perform even better due to their purity and unique composition, giving an impressive burning time of up to 4.5 hours. Briquettes are much better suited for dishes that require long cooking times or for a long and leisurely barbecue – doing away with the troublesome business of having to top up the coal.

Charcoal needs about 25 minutes to reach optimum heat. BBQ briquettes, though, need about 50 minutes before the barbecuing fun can begin. However, this can be reduced to about 30 minutes with a conventional charcoal chimney. Charcoal pieces vary in size, resulting in an uneven distribution of heat on the grill. Briquettes glow evenly, slowly and controlled. However, there are big differences between different briquettes. Cheap barbecue briquettes often disintegrate and ash can land on the food. In addition, tropical wood is often used to make them. BBQ briquettes from Die Kohle-Manufaktur are produced exclusively in Germany from home-made actived carbon and are therefore a genuine “Made in Germany” product. A common misconception is that the barbecue briquettes contain sulphur due to their light beige ash. “We can rebut this rumour 100 percent”, explains Product Developer Frank Stormanns. “Quite the contrary: The resulting limestone colour results from mineral ingredients of natural origin.”

Conclusion: Quality has its price
If you want to quickly grill some sausages or a steak, a few barbecue briquettes or normal charcoal will do. For a long leisurely barbecue among friends however, our barbecue briquettes are much better with their uniform distribution of heat and long-lasting burning time.
You shouldn’t really bother with cheap briquettes either but instead rely on home-produced briquettes – such as those by Die Kohle-Manufaktur. Our Premium BBQ Briquettes are especially suitable for high-quality food and for dishes that require a long cooking time. Combined with Premium Fuel Paste by Die Kohle-Manufaktur they provide smokeless lighting and pure barbecuing enjoyment.

DIE KOHLE-MANUFAKTUR

Now let’s be honest: It’s really time for a break.

More and more people, especially with the frenzied pace of big city life, yearn for a little break every now and then. Just to slow down a bit. Or better still, to switch off completely and muse over something genuine and down-to-earth. Such as a cosy barbecue with friends.

We have developed our Premium BBQ Briquettes precisely for these people – for people like you – a real quality product “Made in Germany”. Our Premium BBQ Briquettes are produced from domestic coal and manufactured and refined in Germany – no tropical wood, no wood waste, no long transport routes.

What we say is: with only the best on the grill, you should have only the best under it. Our Premium BBQ Briquettes are a really great product.

Making charcoal with a VW camper-van.

They still exist: the irrepressible tinkerers, changing the world in their garages or basements with new product ideas. In our case, he’s a passionate barbecue fan and was driven by a mission to develop the perfect coal briquettes.

In his spare time he made many attempts to find the perfect formula. But one day he hit a brick wall. He just didn’t have a suitable press to form the coal into briquettes and test them. But as luck would have it, a little later on he came across a few BBQ-crazy Brits. When he told them about his quest to develop the perfect coal briquettes – and the lack of a press – they listened to his story with interest. Because those Brits had exactly the charcoal press that he was looking for!
It was in a garden shed at home, unused for years. The deal: their old coal press from England for his old VW T1 camper-van. The British had taken quite a shine to it you see. And our intrepid tinkerer?
He agreed. And that was the birth of Premium BBQ Briquettes.

In the spirit of the inventor.

The birth of our Premium BBQ Briquettes already says a lot about our values – an honest product, striving for the best possible result and great attention to detail. Of course, we now produce them with high-tech equipment – if only to maintain our quality standards – and no longer in the garage. But the ongoing development of our briquettes still takes place manually using a hand press at home.
And so the inventive spirit lives on in our company.

Die Kohle-Manufaktur also attaches great importance to the origin of our high-quality products. We take this commitment seriously and use and refine only domestic coal, with the whole production process taking place in Germany. We guarantee 100% Made in Germany in each bag of our Premium BBQ Briquettes.